Fire Emblem: Twin Awakening
by Shinymudkip25
Summary: Raven and Zaltia are twins. One day, they wake up in a field, knowing only that much. As they find themselves on an unlikely journey, they begin to discover secrets about each other and the world in which they live. Will contain several OCs. (my Raven is not in any way related to Raven in Fire Emblem 7) Please R&R! :)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem: Awakening**

**Prologue: Invisible Ties**

The two of them were running towards the tall, skinny sorcerer in front of the Dragon's Table. His dark power was overwhelming, but it did not faze the two. One of them, a blue haired swordsman carried Falchion, the sword of the King Marth, while his companion took up a silver sword imbued with wind magic and the word _'Transcendence' _engraved on its handle. The companion wore a dark purple and gold cloak that was somewhat similar to the sorcerer's.

The blue haired man charged at him, his companion in tow. The sorcerer fired a blast of magic at the blue haired man who closed his eyes. His companion jumped in front of him, facing away from the blast which was strong enough to blow his cloak's hood up. With the companion's face hidden, the companion fired a blast of wind magic from their sword. The sorcerer teleported away, dodging the attack and also giving him a chance to recover, setting up a barrier which would disappear in several minutes.

"This is it, our final battle," the blue haired man said to his companion. "You're one of us Raven, and you know better than all of us that no "destiny" can change that." His companion lowered his hood, revealing a man with short and spiky jet black hair. A small section of hair behind his left ear was braided with a streak of light blue hair. His eyes were a dark hazel, just like her eyes.

"Now, let's kill this dastard and be done with it!" Raven smiled, he agreed. "His barrier's almost gone, and when it is, we'll strike."

"He deserves it. After all of this, he deserves to die," Raven said, his voice hard and determined, his eyes full of anxiety. Chrom looked at his best friend and nodded, simultaneously agreeing and signaling that the barrier was down. "One..." Raven whispered.

"Two…" Chrom continued.

"THREE!" The two yelled in unison as they charged at the sorcerer. The sorcerer looked at the pair with disgust in his eyes, as well as something else, some unreadable emotion. Raven took up Ascendance in his left hand while Chrom took Falchion in his right. Chrom landed the first blow, which was almost fatal. The sorcerer barely held on and took out his purple tome inscribed with six eyes. The blast of magical energy from the tome was directed at Chrom, but blocked by Raven.

"You cannot unwrite what has already been written!" the sorcerer laughed evilly. Raven assumed his stance and charged again.

"You think so? You're wrong!" Raven cried as he slashed at the sorcerer, spilling his blood on the floor. "You're wrong." The sorcerer fell to his knees, his line of eyesight directly on Raven.

"THIS ISN'T OVER!" The sorcerer's voice echoed throughout the hall. There was more, but Raven's head began pounding and for a moment, everything was blurry. When his vision cleared, there was a blast of magic that had been flung towards Chrom. Raven pushed his friend out of the way, taking the blast himself. Instead of the pain he expected, he felt lightheaded and free, like nothing was holding him back anymore.

Raven collapsed on the ground, having his vision blurred again. Chrom ran over to him and helped up. "Are you all right?" he asked, concerned for his friend. Raven nodded in reply, but he began to see red spots across his vision. "That's the end of him. Thanks to you we carried the day…. We can rest easy now…. At long last…." Chrom said with a smile. Raven's head began to hurt and the red spots intensified, turning into a flood across his vision. And then… Chrom stumbled back a little. Raven heard a faint spark coming from somewhere. His vision cleared and Raven saw a magical electric blade stuck in Chrom. He looked down at his hand, which was sparking, like he had just used magic; electrical magic. _"No. No, this can't be. Not me. Not me…."_

Chrom looked at his best friend in surprise. His face was twisted in pain and his breathing was ragged, like he was breathing for the last time. "This is not your… your fault. Promise me you'll protect them…. Promise you'll leave this place… Get the others and go….. Go…." The hall echoed with the sound if the sorcerer's laugh. Raven looked at his best friend, who staggered and fell. Raven knew what he had done, and without thinking, reached for the braided section of his hair and cut it off. He watched the black and light blue hairs fall to the ground, and when they did, he heard a scream of pain from somewhere behind him. The sound triggered something within Raven's mind, and he began screaming too, falling to his knees. Even if the sorcerer had made him kill Chrom, he knew he would be of no further use to him like this; for he had broken the connection between him and his twin. He would die very soon, and Raven slowly began to welcome death, for history would be changed.

Forever.


	2. Chapter 1: Twin Awakening

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem Awakening. This is a consistent disclaimer throughout the story. Also, my Raven character is an OC, not Raven from Fire Emblem 7. I didn't even know there was already someone named Raven!**

**Chapter 1**

"Chrom, we have to do something! We can't just leave them there," said a woman's voice. The voice was young sounding, around his age.

"Then what do you propose we do?" came a man's voice. This voice also sounded close to his age, but maybe a little older.

"I-I don't know," the woman's voice came again. His eyes began to open slowly and he saw she had blond hair in two pigtails and was wearing a yellow-ish dress. The man next to her had dark blue hair and dark blue eyes.

"I see you're awake now," said the man, who he assumed was Chrom. "Hey there," said the woman as she smiled.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground you know." He smiled at the remark. "Here, let me help you," he said, extending a hand. The man on the ground nodded and extended his left hand, seeing a strange purple mark. It looked like six eyes and a face, but it could have been anything.

"Hey, wake up over there!" said the woman, poking an unmoving shape that had been next to the man. The shape was in fact a woman with light blue hair in a ponytail. She began to stir and opened her eyes. They were dark hazel, which he felt like matched his.

"Huh? Where am I?" asked the woman. She then looked directly at him. "Where are we?" He shook his head, unable to answer the question himself. She looked familiar. Too familiar.

"Zal?" he whispered, using her nickname. He couldn't put his finger on where he knew it, but then it hit him. His sister. This was his twin sister.

"Black Bird?" she whispered back. The blond woman helped her up and she ran towards him, and they hugged. He couldn't believe this was twin sister. They were fraternal twins, not identical. It was strange because he couldn't remember anything but her name. He couldn't remember their parents, or where they were from. Thinking about it hurt his head.

"I can't believe it's you! I feel like we haven't- ugh! My head!" she said to him.

"Zaltia…"

"Excuse me, but who are you? Where are you from?" Chrom asked.

"This is my twin sister Zaltia," he said.

"And who are you?" Chrom asked him.

"I-I'm…" he tried to respond. "I'm sorry, but I can't remember Chrom."

"You know who I am?" Chrom asked.

"Yes, I do."

"How can you not remember your own name, but remember milord's?" A brown haired knight on an armored horse had trotted up and heard the end of the conversation.

Zaltia looked at him curiously. "Who are you? Are you a servant of Chrom?"

The brown haired man smirked. "What makes you think that?"

"Y-you said milord. As in your lord. You serve him." Zaltia said, a little embarrassed by her choice of words. Raven rolled his eyes at his sister's incompetence. "Don't roll your eyes at me Raven! It was a simple question!"

Chrom looked at Raven. "Your name suits you well Raven." Raven knew he was referring to his jet black hair. Out of a habit which he could not remember, he touched part of his hair behind his left ear which was finely braided. It was a small braid, but it contained a streak of Zaltia's light blue hair. He looked over at her and saw that she had the same braid, just with a streak of his black hair and in front of her right ear.

"I am a servant of the exalt and a friend of Chrom's, but it may be a while before I am a friend of you," the knight replied casually.

"Frederick! Don't be so mean!" the blond haired woman said.

"Lissa, has it occurred to you that these two may indeed be Plegian spies?" Frederick asked the woman.

"Plegian?" Zaltia said to no one in particular.

"Plegia is a country that borders us. They are constantly trying to create war between our countries," Chrom replied.

"Border **us**?"

"We are in the country of Ylisse. You must know that much if you could interpret the fact that I am a "servant" of Chrom here," Frederick said.

Raven could tell already that Zaltia was off to a rough start with these people, mostly Frederick though. "_That's a great way to say "thank you" to the people that found us," _Raven thought miserably. Chrom and Lissa didn't seem as hostile as Frederick, maybe if they appealed more to them, then the two of them could go along unharmed and forgotten. For some odd reason, that was what Raven wanted more than anything; to be forgotten, to become invisible.

"What will you do with us? Will you let us go along if we promise to not cause any trouble?" Raven finally asked after a minute's silence.

Chrom nodded. "That seems fair. There's a town a little way ahead if you want to get food or find a place to stay." He handed Zaltia some gold. "I'm really sorry we couldn't help you more." With that, he began to walk away with Frederick down the road.

"Well, it was nice meeting you. I hope you guys end up okay," Lissa said. She smiled and ran to hurry and catch up with Chrom and Frederick.

After the group of Ylisseans was no longer seen on the road, Zaltia spoke. "So, should we go to that town Chrom was talking about?"

"_It would be nice to find a place to stay and eat," _Raven conceded. "Yeah, let's go. It can't be that far away."

~…~

The walk was longer than she'd expected. Zaltia could see the hoof prints on the ground where Frederick's horse had been and the footprints of Chrom and Lissa. She sighed involuntary. Part of her had hoped that her and her brother would've been able to go with them. But… Chrom seemed so familiar. He seemed like he had in that dream that she'd had. She shook her head. There was no way that was a coincidence. Even Raven was the exact same as he was right then, walking on her left. It would only be a matter of time before he got a sword with _'Transcendence'_ inscribed on it. She just knew it.

"Zaltia, stop," Raven commanded in a whisper. She halted, looking at him with a puzzled expression. "Just listen," he said through gritted teeth.

When he pointed it out, she could just hear it. Screams. Swords clashing against each other. And she could smell fire. Zaltia looked at her brother and nodded. "C'mon, let's go!"

The two took off running towards the noises. As she was running, Zaltia felt something heavy bang against her right thigh. She looked down and saw a sheathed sword attached to her belt. It was crudely made by the looks of it, but if there was a fight ahead of them, it would have to do. Raven was a faster runner and passed her quickly enough. He kept running, motioning with his left hand for her to hurry up. Zaltia began sprinting, catching up with Raven in a heartbeat. A few seconds passed and suddenly the two saw a town at the end of the path. They ended up running onto the cobblestone ground of town in the middle of a battle. Not a full blown battle, but nonetheless. Chrom, Lissa and Frederick were all fighting against some bandits, and judging from what Chrom had said earlier, these were Plegian bandits. Zaltia made the mistake of looking in Chrom's direction, because as soon as she did, a Plegian was attacking her, yelling something about the Sheppards getting reinforcements. Zaltia unsheathed her sword and slashed his stomach, causing him to kneel and die, bleeding on the ground.

Raven looked at her like she was insane. She probably was, not knowing that once the soldier had called out the word 'reinforcements', everyone stopped and focused on the two of them; even Chrom and his comrades.

"You! Get back, it's dangerous!" Chrom yelled, his commanding voice full of general concern.

"You lads hear that? These aren't reinforcements, they're regulars! Either kill 'em first or just ignore 'em!" shouted one of the soldiers. A man who wasn't wearing the matching armor but sported the same colors nodded and all the other soldiers assumed their stances.

Chrom beckoned the two of them. They ran over to the three of them, and Zaltia took a deep breath. "Are we to fight with you then?"

Chrom sighed. "I can tell you won't **not** fight, so yes, I suppose so. Just stay close to me and don't do anything stupid." Zaltia couldn't help but smile.

"Here goes nothing then," Raven said, pulling a tome out from his robes. The silence between the two armies was now broken and everyone began to charge.

"Wait for me!" called a woman's voice. From the sky, a Pegasus flew down like a bird diving for its prey. Its rider was a woman around Zaltia and Raven's age. She had very light brown hair and brown eyes.

"Sumia?!" Chrom called out as he slashed a Plegian.

"I'm sorry Captain, you had not yet returned and everyone was worried, so I…."

"Yes I got it Sumia! We could use your help though, go fight someone." Chrom waved his hand toward the the general mass of Plegians.

"Yes Captain!" Sumia said as she flew into battle. She stabbed a Plegian next to Raven as he opened his Wind tome and fired the magic at one of the nearby Plegians.

"Hello there, I'm-"

"Sumia. I know, I'm Raven by the way," Raven replied as the Plegian dodged his attack. The Plegian threw an axe at Raven, fortunately hitting him in the eye with the butt of the axe.

Sumia gasped. "Are you okay?" Raven nodded quickly. She took her Iron lance and stabbed the Plegian soldier, killing him instantly.

Raven looked at her in surprise. "Thanks."

Sumia nodded happily. "You're welcome…. Raven," she said, trying his name out on her tongue.

Meanwhile, Lissa was going as fast as she could to each of the group, healing any wounds. Frederick was fighting surprisingly well using a weapon more powerful than anyone else's; a Silver Lance.

A Plegian soldier came up behind Zaltia, who was fighting another Plegian. The man behind her was ready to cut her down with his sword, but something blocked it. Zaltia turned around in surprise as the man she was fighting fell to the ground. She saw that Chrom had blocked the sword's blow with his own sword, Falchion. Chrom quickly spun his sword and disarmed his opponent, grabbing his sword.

"Now, I will give you a choice. You can die like your other comrades, or you can flee and promise to never harm Ylisse again. Which do you choose?" Chrom asked the man.

The man grabbed hold of Chrom's sword and shoved it in his gut. "I would rather die than flee," he said as he fell to the ground, dead. Chrom stepped away, an unreadable emotion racing across his eyes.

"Are you alright?" asked Zaltia.

"Yes, I'm fine. Mind your own business," Chrom replied. Zaltia could tell that choice that the soldier had made had shaken Chrom up a little. _What am I thinking? I shook me up too!_ She hadn't expected for someone to rather die than to cease fighting. It could only make her think, what was influencing these poor men to do such a thing?


	3. Chapter 2: Foreigners

**Chapter 2: Foreigners**

Raven stood petrified at the scene in front of him. These men were just bandits! Why would they die for something as pointless as razing a village? Sumia had defended Raven while in his current state, bringing more Plegians to meet face-first with the cobblestone street. He lifted his eyes slowly, looking around at all the dead soldiers and then at his sister who was fighting a man with an axe. Everything was sort of one big blur and Zaltia's blue hair was the only thing that stood out. There was a faint smell of smoke and a voice saying something that sounded close to his name. Raven turned slowly to his right and saw several homes on fire as well as the armored rider heading towards them with buckets of water.

"Raven!" Sumia shook his shoulder and he snapped out of the daze. Everything began to process faster and Raven quickly ran to where Frederick had gathered the water. He filled a bucket and lifted it, realizing how little upper body strength he had. _Crap this is heavy! Oh… and there it goes…._ The bucket fell from his hands, but to Raven's surprise it landed upright without any water spillage. Something about this moment made him feel strangely happy and he picked the bucket up again, this time running over to the house and dropping it over there.

"Sumia and Lissa, make sure none of the townspeople are injured! Frederick and Raven, keep throwing water on the town!" said a voice from behind Raven. He turned and saw Chrom standing and waving his sword in the designated directions. Raven hesitated before stepping back to follow Frederick.

"Chrom, I don't think it's a good idea to have me carry any more water," Raven said quickly. The blue-haired man nodded in agreement.

"Sumia! Go with Frederick! Raven, you'll go with Lissa!" Sumia had already taken off behind the blonde as Chrom changed his mind. She quickly got Lissa off her Pegasus and flew towards Frederick, leaving Raven to pursue Lissa.

"Hey! Hey Lissa!" Raven called as Lissa began to crawl inside a burning building. He saw the house's infrastructure shake a little above Lissa's head. He cursed under his breath. "Lissa!" He grabbed her left arm and pulled her out before the doorway above her collapsed. "What do you think you're doing? You could've gotten yourself killed!"

Lissa brushed some dirt off her sleeve. "There might have been people in there! And your job is to help clear a path for me, not pull me away from the house!" she yelled, her voice a little hoarse from the smoke in the air.

"Okay, what should I do?"

"You have a magic tome don't you? Use the magic to zap through something! Or something…"

Raven took out his tome only to realize yet again that it was a wind tome. Lissa looked at him frantically. "Aren't you going to do something?!"

"I can't Lissa! This is a _wind_ tome. If I use this, it'll just spread the fire even more!" Raven earned nothing from Lissa except for a finger to his mouth when he tried to suggest something.

_By the time it takes for her to figure out a plan everyone will be dead already!_ Raven thought exasperatedly.

* * *

Zaltia raised her sword to meet the man's axe as it swung down upon her. He had a good arm, she'd give him that much. She could tell that this man was the bandits' leader, seeing as there had been many men surrounding him and trying to keep him safe. There was a loud _CLANG_ as metal met metal. Both fighters wouldn't back down, pushing even harder. Sparks began to fly from the friction.

Zaltia smirked and quickly withdrew her sword from the dual, causing the man to stumble forward. His weakness was that he was unbalanced and slow. Zaltia spun and slashed her sword at the man's arm, only to be parried by another sword.

"Stop!"

She looked up at the one who had stopped her. Zaltia didn't realize that Chrom had also blocked the leader's axe as well. _Talk about a stalemate_, she thought to herself.

"Drop your axe Garrick or you'll regret it!" So Chrom knew these people. They must have run into each other in similar situations.

"Go ahead, kill me. See if I care," the man who was supposedly Garrick replied confidently. Chrom lifted his sword to the man's neck.

"I won't kill you. I will send you back to Plegia in so much pain and enveloped in so much failure that no one will ever so much as glance your way again." Zaltia stared at once calm swordsman. There was no sincerity in his voice, no option other than the one he gave. Something had happened to him that involved this man. Garrick started laughing.

Chrom's narrowed his eyes. This man was pissing him off. Chrom lifted his sword and turned his head away as he cut Garrick's throat. He then turned to Zaltia. "Don't you have anything better to do than just stand there?" She shook her head no. "Then go help Sumia and Frederick." Chrom's eyes had glazed over, as if he was reliving something awful. Zaltia nodded and ran across the cobblestone streets to Sumia and Frederick, who were both throwing buckets of water on the houses.

Without question Zaltia grabbed an unused bucket and filled it with water from a river well. As she helped put out the fire, both fighters looked at her skeptically. She ignored it and continued to help, that is, until she heard a scream coming from a nearby building.

* * *

Lissa was coughing from the smoke. After a few minutes Raven had found a thunder tome on the ground that had belonged to one of the Plegian mages, so Lissa decided to have that be their way to clear a path. Raven had conjured a blast of the magic, accidently hit Lissa a little bit, cleared away some of the burning building and followed Lissa inside.

Several common household items such as books or plates were unrecognizable due to being burned completely. It was hard to see anything inside the building other than Lissa's figure, which was distorted by the smoke.

"Hello? Is anybody in here?" Lissa asked in between coughs. He blond hair was looking a bit more gray.

"Help…."

"Raven did you hear that?" Lissa asked. He nodded his response.

"Me… Here… Help…." Raven squinted his eyes and made out a young man huddled in a corner.

"There!" Raven pointed in the villager's direction. Lissa ran to him and grabbed his hand, guiding him out of the burning building. Just when the three were through, the young man collapsed. Lissa tried her best to drag him to his feet, but with little success.

Raven looked up at the ceiling. "Lissa, you need to hurry it up! The roof is…" Lissa quickly picked up the man with an adrenalized burst of energy and began moving again, but she wasn't fast enough. The flaming ceiling dropped down right above the two. Raven quickly pushed Lissa and the man out of the house, leaving the ceiling to collapse on himself.

Raven loudly swore as the flames met his back. _This is it. It's all over now._ _To think that helping someone would get me killed! _he thought. Raven screamed in pain. He heard voices shouting as he began to black out. It truly was over.

* * *

_The two of them were huddled under a bush somewhere in southern Ylisse. What he had just seen had been utterly terrifying. _

"_This can't be happening Raven! Not now!" she said. "This can't be happening right after Mom!" Raven was completely speechless._

_The moon was full and it was bathing the forest in an eerie light. The hooded figure walked through it slowly, looking at every tree, every leaf._

"_I know you're there. Come out or you'll regret it," the figure said. Raven looked at his sister, whose hazel eyes were wide as moons._

"_What manner of magic…?" Zaltia whispered._

"_Of all the things he's done, I don't know what this is…"_

"_I know you're there!" Raven's left hand felt sharp with pain. He fell from his knees to the ground clutching it and trying to fight back the tears of pain. Zaltia watched her brother's body helplessly spasm out on the ground. _

_The hooded figure turned his head to the bush where the two were hiding. Raven let out a small cry. "There you are." And Raven's vision went black._

* * *

"Raven please wake up!" Zaltia's voice rang through his head.

"Five more minutes…" he groaned. He suddenly felt pain in his left ear. "Ow!"

"I said wake up!" Raven felt his eyes open and the first thing he saw was grass. And someone's feet. He tried to sit up, but his back told him otherwise. He grimaced.

"How bad is he Lissa?" It was Sumia's voice.

"His burns are really bad, but I think after some more rest and healing, he'll be fine." He'll be fine? Were they talking about him?

"I feel so bad about this," said an unknown man's voice. It took Raven a second to recognize it, but it was the boy from the fire!

"He saved our lives Alex! It's not your fault!" Lissa replied.

"If I kept going…."

"This conversation is over. He's been awake," Chrom's voice said. Raven lifted his head to see the four warriors, his sister, and another man who Raven assumed was Alex. He wore a myrmidon's uniform, had long orange hair, narrow eyes, and carried a small backpack and a sheathed sword. "Are you all right?" Chrom asked.

"Is it a bad thing if I say no?" Raven asked. Chrom smiled and shook his head.

"Do you think you can stand?" Sumia asked.

Raven shrugged. "Maybe." He tried standing up, but quickly fell back down.

"Here, let me help," Lissa offered. When Raven looked confused Lissa simply replied. "It's one of the few ways Frederick will allow me to repay you. For you know, saving my life and such." Lissa grabbed hold of Raven's left hand and pulled him up. For the first time, Raven noticed that he was shirtless and could barely make out burn marks going over and across his shoulders.

When he stood, Zaltia was on one side of him while Lissa was on the other. He had his arms around both of them as he stood with both his feet touching the ground. His back was killing him, but at least he could put a little pressure on his feet.

"If we're all done here, then I suggest we continue on. We need to get back to the capital as quickly as possible," Frederick said to Chrom.

"Why?" Lissa asked.

"Your sister must be really worried about you if she sent Sumia to look for us," Frederick replied.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Sumia asked. Everyone started laughing, Sumia included. Raven gasped in pain after a few seconds of laughing and sort of fell forward, being caught by Lissa and Zaltia.

"We also need to discuss the three of them with Emmeryn," Frederick continued. Chrom nodded slightly.

"Wait- The three of us? Do you mean Raven, Alex and I?" Zaltia asked. Lissa looked at her brother quizzically.

"Yes," Frederick said as Chrom looked at the ground.

"Hold up! What do I have to do with this?" Alex asked.

"Well, for starters, your place of residence burned down and secondly, you are wearing the crest of Regna Ferox. So right now, we've got three foreigners in our custody. The Exalt will be quite interested in how you found yourself here." Alex gulped.

"I'm not sure I heard you right Frederick. Did you say _three_ foreigners?" Raven asked. He broke free of Lissa and Zaltia's grasps and winced a little.

"I was not mistaken in that."

"Tell me why Zal and I are foreigners then," Raven challenged.

"Both of you were wearing cloaks that clearly show the two of you are Plegian mages. Or in your sister's case, a Plegian swordswoman," Frederick said. He seemed to have an arrogant attitude as he said it.

"Well… I-"

"Face it Raven, you can't argue with that!" Zaltia said.

"Ummm… Captain?" Sumia said shyly.

"What is it Sumia?" Chrom asked in return.

"I am to report back to the Exalt that you are safe. May I leave now?"

Chrom nodded. "Of course. We'll see you back at the Garrison then." Sumia hopped on the back of her Pegasus and took off over the dense forest that separated the six of them from Ylisse's capital city Ylisstol.

"Come on, let's keep going. We still have a while until we have to stop for the night," Chrom said.

~…~

"It's almost nightfall Chrom. Should we get a fire started?" asked Zaltia. Raven couldn't help but notice that Frederick's eyes lit up when he heard the words "get a fire started."

"It is kind of cold…." Lissa agreed. Chrom sighed.

"Um… Chrom? Can I have my cloak back? Lissa's right about it being cold," Raven said. Chrom nodded and pulled the cloak out of one of the pouches that Frederick's horse was carrying. Lissa had said that it would be painful to put anything as tight as a shirt back on for a while, so his cloak would do just fine.

"All right. Frederick, you have the honors of making the fire," Chrom said as Raven put on his cloak. Frederick immediately set out to collecting sticks. "Until then, Alex and Zaltia can come hunting with me."

Frederick looked up from collecting sticks for the fire. "Milord, is it wise to allow those two to go hunting with you? You barely know them! They could turn on you any second you are out there and just say it was a wild animal attack!"

Chrom rolled his eyes. "Well, if they say it was an animal attack, then you have my permission to arrest them," he said.

"Aren't we already arrested?" muttered Zaltia.

"Exactly," replied Chrom with a wink.

The three wandered off in the woods behind Chrom, each with their swords unsheathed. When they were out of sight, Lissa started snickering.

"What's so funny?" Raven asked.

"Oh it's just that Chrom fancies your sister a little bit," Lissa said. "He never winks at anyone, even Sumia."

"Really? I thought the two of them were in a relationship."

"Sumia and Chrom? Oh gods no! Sumia has a massive crush on Chrom, but he doesn't see anything in her. I mean, there was that one time when he-"

"Lissa! We don't speak of that experience!" Frederick snapped.

"Why? There's nothing wrong with Chrom getting a little drunk!" Lissa said.

Raven's eyes widened. "They had sex?!"

"What?" Lissa asked. "No! Gods I hope not! She and Chrom were just making out the whole night! It wasn't that big of a deal. And thanks for putting an image in my head Raven."

Raven smirked. "No problem Lissa." Somehow it didn't seem right that Sumia and Chrom would end up together, even if Sumia had a crush on him.

"Seriously Raven! Could you imagine your sister doing it with someone?" Lissa asked. Raven wrinkled his nose.

"I guess I deserved that," he said. Lissa smiled and nodded.

* * *

"…Bear meat? That's what we're eating?" Lissa asked. Alex nodded half-heartedly. The group had returned with a small skinned bear, but it was enough for all of them to get a good meal.

"Hey, that was all we could find! And believe me, I wish we could find something different as well…" he said.

"I don't think it's that bad," Zaltia said. When Alex and Lissa looked at her like she was crazy she said, "Seriously! Somehow I feel like I've had worse than this."

"She's right. I've had worse experiences with food," Chrom stated. Lissa swallowed.

"Yeah…. I think I'll pass on that…" she said. Alex nodded.

"Here Lissa. I've got some bread and berries from one of my trips. You can have some of them if you want," Alex said. Lissa's eyes lit up.

"Oh yes please!" Alex handed her half a loaf of the gritty bread that he had in his backpack. She gladly accepted it and began to eat ravenously.

"Remind me to pack some other type of food for you Lissa," Chrom said. He stifled a laugh. "And you said you could get used to this!" Lissa stuck her tongue out at her brother as everyone around her (except Frederick) laughed.

"I really wish we could all be friends," Zaltia said wistfully.

"Who says we can't?" Chrom asked.

"I do milord," Frederick said. "They are our prisoners!"

Chrom sighed. "Frederick, they helped us with the bandit problem in town. They risked their lives for Ylisseans!"

"Not all of them." He was referring to Alex.

"That's different Frederick!" Lissa said with a slight blush on her face. "He's still on our side!"

"Uh huh…" Frederick said. He was staring down his meat and it looked like he was debating to eat it or not.

"What's wrong with you Frederick? Not a fan of bear meat?" Raven asked the knight.

"No, that's not it at all! I just had a large lunch that's all!" Frederick chuckled. Lissa narrowed her eyes.

"Liar! We didn't even have lunch!" she said.

"…What?" Frederick really was a terrible liar.

* * *

A noise awoke Chrom in the middle of the night. The fire was still burning bright and everyone looked peaceful as they slept except for Raven, who was lying on his back looking up at the stars. Chrom wondered what had caused him to wake.

A slight tremor raced across the ground. _So that was it_, he thought. Lissa began to stir. She opened her eyes slightly. "Chrom?" she said sleepily.

"Hey Lissa wake up. I need you to come look at something with me," Chrom whispered to her. Lissa groaned.

"But it's nighttime! Why should I?"

"You woke up on your own, didn't you?" Lissa conceded with a nod. Chrom helped her to her feet and began to walk away from the fire. He walked past Raven. "If we're gone too long, come look for us okay?" Raven nodded and went back to stargazing.

~…~

"This is stupid Chrom. There's nothing going on out here and it's late!" Lissa complained.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that it's early morning, not late night," Chrom corrected.

"Whatever!"

"So- What do you think of those Plegians?" Chrom asked his sister after a minute of silence.

"They're fun to talk to I guess. I don't really know, but it seems like they're telling the truth about not having any memory. I mean, they knew each other's names, but that's different I suppose."

"Yeah I have to agree. What about our Feroxi friend?"

"I only talked to him at least once, and he's a rather secluded guy. But I think he's fine!" Lissa said. Chrom absent-mindedly nodded.

"Did you feel that?"

"Feel what Chrom?" Another tremor shook the ground, this time larger.

"Lissa run! Get back to the others!" When she looked skeptical Chrom insisted. "I mean it, go!" Lissa took off running in the direction that the two had come from. Chrom quickly followed.

Behind the blue haired swordsman, a portion of the ground rose, revealing the magma underneath. The force it was launched up with caused the magma to spit fireballs as the two ran. The forest was soon filled with fire. _Haven't we had enough fire for one day?!_ Chrom thought.

A flaming tree had fallen in front of Lissa. "This way!" Chrom called out to his sister. She turned and followed him out of the forest. Chrom looked around and realized that they had come out on the Ylisstol side of the forest. _Oh Gods, I hope the city is spared!_

Lissa leaned over to catch her breath when she saw it. There was a faint glow in the sky. "Chrom, what is that?!" The glow grew stronger and turned into something that looked similar to an eye. Strange figures began falling out of it and landing in some bushes near the brother and sister. _What now?_ Chrom wondered. This was too much.

It only got worse. The figures managed to survive the hundred foot drop. They stood up and their eyes turned a blood red color. "Lissa, you'd better stand back," Chrom said as he drew his sword Falchion. Lissa nodded as Chrom charged at one of the figures. He couldn't tell if it was a man, but it looked familiar. Chrom sliced the thing's stomach, thinking it would die immediately. To his surprise, the creature turned its head, unfazed.

Chrom looked at the creature's face. _This isn't a man, it's a monster! Wait- No, that's impossible!_

* * *

**All right! Chapter 2 done! Or Chapter 3 if you count the prologue... Anyways, thanks for reading and don't forget to R&R! Mudkip out!  
**


	4. Chapter 3: Once Alive, Always Alive

**Chapter 3: Once Alive, Always Alive**

_Wait- No, that's impossible!_ Chrom thought as the monster drew a weapon. It was a hand axe, one very similar to the one that Garrick had used earlier that day. That was all the confirmation he needed. This creature- monster for that matter- was indeed Garrick.

The axe met Falchion and a flurry of sparks soon followed. Chrom remembered back to their battle earlier that day and tried Zaltia's little maneuver. He withdrew his sword from the clash and knocked the monster down. He jumped up and landed a final blow which caused the creature to vanish in a strange purple smoke. Chrom silently celebrated his victory.

"Ahh! Chrom help!" Lissa cried. He turned to see his sister trapped by one of the monsters, its axe raised. _Oh gods! She can't fight!_

"Lissa!" Chrom ran quickly towards his sister, ignoring the other creatures still "rising" behind him. Meanwhile, a young blue-haired man wearing a mask jumped out of the eye which the monsters first appeared. Out of the corner of Chrom's eye, he saw the man running towards Lissa. _Not today!_ Chrom only ran faster.

The monster's axe fell. "No!" Chrom cried. He rushed over only to see the blue-haired man. His sword was blocking the creature's weapon from hitting Lissa, but it was obvious the action was draining his energy.

"Help!" the man said while looking in Chrom's direction. Chrom nodded and ran at the enemy, his sword unsheathed. The monster took its attention off Lissa and the man for a split second, but that was all the man needed. He wound up his sword to attack, copying Chrom's wind-up to a T. The two landed their blows at the same time causing the monster to disappear almost as soon as it had been struck. Lissa stood speechless.

The blue-haired stranger sheathed his sword. "Thank you for helping my sister. What's your name?" Chrom asked. The ground began shake again.

"Chrom! Lissa! You're okay!" It was Zaltia's voice. Chrom saw the four they had left back at camp running towards them with Zaltia in the lead and Alex and Raven at the back. Chrom now noticed that Raven had a shirt on under his cloak.

"What are those things?" Alex asked when the group reached them.

"You mean those monsters? I don't know, but they're not normal. The two I fought looked an awful lot like two of the men I killed today." Chrom swallowed. Saying that sounded uncomfortable.

"We should probably cut them off before they get smart enough to reach the town," Zaltia said.

Chrom nodded. "All right then, how do you suggest we go about this? I know it takes more than one hit to kill one of them, so we might be at a disadvantage if we separated."

"We could pair up. I mean, the number of them outnumbers our amount of pairs, but if we work together, then maybe we can kill one each time we're under attack," Zaltia said.

"I like it! So who's pairing up?"

"Milord! We cannot trust every single idea that they come up with!" Frederick protested. Lissa sighed.

"What would you rather do Frederick? As I recall, our last tactician was _murdered in the woods, _so we don't have one anymore!" Lissa stated.

"Murdered in the woods?" Alex asked quietly and to no one in particular.

"All I'm saying is that we have no solid evidence that we can trust them," Frederick explained.

"And you say that you and Miriel wouldn't be a good match…" Lissa muttered.

"We WOULDN'T!" Frederick's red face said otherwise.

"I guess even Frederick has a breaking point," Zaltia whispered to her brother.

"Guys let's get back on track! Zaltia, who should pair up?" Chrom interrupted.

"Oh. I didn't really think about it that much. I guess we'll go…. Alex and Lissa, Chrom and Frederick, and Raven and I!" Everyone nodded except for Frederick.

"Change the last pair of Raven and you. We can't have two foreigners go off by themselves," Frederick said. Chrom sighed.

"You heard him. Switch partners," Chrom told Zaltia.

"Okay… Alex and Lissa will stay the same so, how about Raven and Frederick, and Chrom and I!" Raven immediately groaned when he heard he was with Frederick. Zaltia couldn't help but let a little smirk break out on her face. "Sorry bro, it was me or you. I just chose you."

"I hate you."

"Let's go guys; they're all over this field! If we can attack them, then we should take that chance!" Chrom pointed out.

"Ready Lissa?" Alex asked his partner.

"Yeah I am!" the blond replied while pumping a fist in the air.

"Alex and Lissa, you take the west side of the field! Don't hesitate to come find us when you're done!" Chrom said. The pair ran off towards the west, which was scattered with trees.

"Will Lissa be okay? She can't fight at all," Raven asked.

"She'll be all right. Alex will protect her, I'm sure of it," Chrom replied. "How about Fre-"

"Frederick and Raven, you can start off with Chrom and I, but we'll be going northwest. You guys can go northeast," Zaltia said, interrupting Chrom's orders.

"You have a plan for everything, don't you?" Raven asked his sister. She smiled in return.

"Let's move!" Chrom yelled. The four began running towards their enemies only to be halted by something similar to an invisible barrier.

"What is this?" Raven asked.

"My guess is that it's old-fashioned-" Frederick began.

"Donuts?" Raven asked.

"-battle magic," Frederick finished. "Why would donuts magically stop us?!"

"Sorry, I'm just a little hungry…" Raven said. _Idiot!_ Zaltia thought silently.

"What do you mean by battle magic?" Zaltia asked.

"In older times, it was not uncommon for great battles to be fought using this method. Each side would move in turns, and they would only have a certain range that they could move. That was all determined at random by the magic," Chrom explained.

"Why isn't it used anymore?" Raven asked.

"It is impractical. Battles could be won faster and have more 'glorified' victories without it," Frederick replied. "I have no idea why it would be in play here though…"

"So, we can't move until they do," Zaltia muttered. "That's just great."

"It's like a giant game of chess or something!" Raven exclaimed.

"Yeah, that sounds like one way to put it," she conceded.

"Get ready everyone because if we're under attack, then we can fight back after they hit us," Chrom said. Zaltia nodded and unsheathed her bronze sword, Raven pulled out his wind tome, Frederick readied his silver lance and Chrom unsheathed Falchion.

The undead began to move forward.

* * *

"This is kinda spooky Alex. I've never actually fought during an ancient magic battle," Lissa told her companion. The truth was that she was absolutely terrified that Alex wouldn't be able to protect her from the monsters. Lissa was also scared for Chrom. She'd never doubted his abilities but seeing him face Garrick again had been enough to make even the toughest warrior scared. Chrom had been scared. Lissa had been terrified.

"It's fine. From what I've read, if you're paired up, then the odds of you getting hurt should be lower. If you're the one being attacked, then I'll protect you," the orange haired man replied.

"Why Alex?"

"Why what?"

"I'm wondering why you gave me some of your food and why you'll protect me. I'm not that special," Lissa said.

"I think we both know otherwise princess."

"How did you know?" Lissa asked after a moment of silence.

"I'm not an idiot Lissa. If I didn't know who the royalty of a bordering country was or that they were part of the peace-keeping Shepherds, then I'd need to go back to school," Alex replied.

"So you are from Regna Ferox?"

"Yes."

"Why are you here then?"

"Last I checked this wasn't a game of twenty questions, so right now we need to focus on stopping these things before they get Ylisstol," Alex said stubbornly. Lissa sighed. _You're definitely starting to sound like you're from Regna Ferox. What happened to the other Alex? You know the one who's nice and caring and…_

"Look out!" Alex cried, snapping Lissa out of her thoughts. An arrow came flying out of nowhere and it was headed right at reaction was too slow though. The arrow pierced the skin on her left shoulder. She gasped in the sudden pain.

"Quick, heal yourself up! It's our turn now!" Alex said as he scanned the area for the archer. Lissa pulled out a vile of medicine and drank some of it. She pulled the arrow out of her shoulder and watched the wound quickly close up.

"There you are…." Alex whispered as he narrowed his eyes. The archer was hidden behind two trees.

"That's funny; I don't remember any archers from this morning…" Lissa whispered half to herself, half to Alex.

"It doesn't matter! It hurt you, so it must be on the enemy side." Lissa nodded in agreement. _Wait a minute… Is that even one of those monsters? _Lissa thought as she looked closer. _No! That's a man!_ From what the princess could see, the shooter was actually a man with long light blue hair.

"Wait Alex! I don't think he's one of them!"

* * *

"Raven and Frederick, get as close as you can to that guy over there. If you can attack him, then do so!" Zaltia said as she pointed to one of the undead. Raven and Frederick began running until the magic stopped them several yards away from the target.

"I think I can hit him with my magic from here!" Raven exclaimed. "Elwind!" he read aloud. A strong gust of wind magic hit the monster. It stumbled backwards a little and threw a small axe at Raven. The blade hit him and he winced a little at its contact. Thankfully, he had some strange, invisible armor that made it hurt less.

"Allow me!" Frederick called out. On the back of his horse, he rode up to the monster and stabbed it with his silver lance. The creature vanished in a plume of smoke soon after.

"Nicely done," Raven said to Frederick. Frederick nodded to show his thanks.

"It's our turn!" Zaltia said. The second pair ran forward and stopped right in front of an enemy.

"Let's finish it!" Chrom cried out as he slashed the creature with Falchion. Zaltia followed Chrom's example and sent the monster backwards with her bronze sword. _Huh. It didn't disappear_, she thought. She suddenly felt sharp pain shoot through her ankle.

"Or not," Chrom muttered. The creature swung a sword at him, making contact with some of his armor and some of his skin. "Where's Lissa when you need her?" he groaned. Zaltia nodded in agreement.

* * *

"Hey mister! Don't shoot us; we're on your side!" Lissa called out to the stranger.

"Lissa…" Alex grumbled.

"Please! We're just trying to protect Ylisstol!" Lissa called again. "Can you even hear me?"

"Of course that idiot can hear you. Doesn't mean he'll stop shooting though." Alex turned around and saw a woman with short and spiky red hair. She was beautiful in a tomboyish sense and was riding a white horse and wearing red armor.

"Sully!" Lissa shouted happily. "We're saved!"

"Hey Lissa. Who's your orange headed boyfriend?" the woman, apparently named Sully asked.

"I am not her boyfriend!" Alex muttered.

"Sully, this is Alex. He's from Regna Ferox. Alex, this is Sully. She's one of the Shepherds too!" Lissa said, gesturing to each one respectively. "So who is that man that keeps trying to kill me?"

"The blue-haired freak? Says his name's Virion. I met him while I was on patrol."

"Why is he shooting at us?"

"He's a nutjob! The guy started following me around and callin' me pretty and junk like that," Sully said.

"He wasn't wrong," Alex muttered under his breath.

"What was that Alex?" Lissa asked.

"Nothing. I think it's our turn now so we might as well go on the offensive." The orange haired myrmidon turned away and began running to a nearby monster.

"Hey Virion! Don't shoot these guys anymore okay? They're on my side," Sully called out to the tree.

"Let's start fighting!" Lissa yelled suddenly as she followed Alex.

* * *

Raven fired the blast of wind magic at the monster, leaving it to disappear in that strange smoke. Frederick nodded absently, as if acknowledging the boy's victory. Suddenly, Raven felt free from his restricted movement.

"What the…?"

Frederick looked surprised, a look that was both terrifying and hilarious. "I think the magic lifted," he said.

"How come?" Raven asked the knight.

"No idea, but those creatures haven't figured it out either," Frederick responded.

_Maybe it had to do with that last one… _Raven's thoughts trailed off. He would worry about it later. For now they had to keep these risen warriors from getting to the city.

"Zaltia!" Raven called out, hoping that his voice would carry a few yards. In a matter of seconds, both Chrom and Zaltia appeared. Blood was running from a wound on Chrom's shoulder and Zaltia's ankle looked twisted.

"What did you do?" Chrom asked Raven as he looked out at the monsters a few yards away.

"What did _you_ do?" Raven countered, looking at Chrom's shoulder.

"It's not that deep, it's just bleeding a lot," Chrom explained.

"Hello?" That was Lissa's voice. "Captain Chrom?" This voice was different. It was deeper, but still belonged to a woman.

When Zaltia and Raven looked at Chrom confusedly, he replied, "That's Sully. She's a member of our country's protectors, called the Shepherds."

"She just called you Captain, right?" Zaltia asked.

Chrom smiled. "Yep. I'm the leader of the Shepherds."

"I would love to continue this fascinating discussion later, but I think we should probably worry about them first," Frederick said, pointing his lance in the direction of the monsters. There were about seven left standing.

"You need some help or something?" said a woman as she rode up on a white horse. Lissa was sitting behind her.

"You must be Sully," Raven observed.

"And you must be Raven," Sully replied. "Lissa's told me about you." _So she's straight to the point,_ Raven thought.

"Chrom! Look at your shoulder! What happened?!" Lissa exclaimed when she saw her brother.

"I was attacked Lissa. Can you please heal me?" Chrom asked.

"Alright. Just hold still." Lissa held out her staff and waved it around Chrom's shoulder while muttering something under her breath. Chrom tensed and in a few seconds, the wound had closed, leaving a scar and a little bit of blood. "There you go. What about you Zaltia?" Lissa asked when she saw the bluenette.

"I-I'm fine. I just landed on my ankle wrong," Zaltia replied. Lissa nodded and waved her staff over the wound.

"You'll be fine now!" Lissa said proudly. Zaltia lifted her foot and moved her ankle around, still not used to the feeling of being healed.

"Thanks Lissa. Now let's finish these things quick!" Zaltia smiled. With the magic lifted, everyone charged at the same time. The monsters were caught off guard and were slow to raise their weapons. By the time they did, Chrom and the others were already on them, attacking them with their swords, lances, and magic. Each one fell after a few seconds. All the fighters turned to each other and high fived at their victory.

"Lissa! Look out!" Raven cried as he turned around to congratulate her. A monster had come up behind the blond and was lowering its axe. Lissa let out a scream, but before anyone could do anything, the monster disappeared.

"What the…?" Lissa whispered. When the smoke vanished, she saw Alex standing beside a blue haired archer. Alex was sheathing his sword as the archer was lowering his bow.

"You're welcome princess," Alex said.

"What in the world? Did Alex just change into a jerk?" Zaltia whispered to Raven.

"I apologize for my behavior. I get a little riled up during battle," Alex said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's like… some sort of condition or something!" he said as he laughed awkwardly. Everyone stared at the myrmidon's sudden change of behavior.

"Hmm. You're a really strange Feroxi warrior, you know that right?" Lissa said. Alex just sighed.

"Captain, I would like to make an introduction," Sully said. She gestured to the archer beside Alex.

"Your Majesty. I am Virion, the archest of archers!" he said while gesturing dramatically. Zaltia and Chrom raised one of their eyebrows and looked at each other. Raven just put his hands in pockets on the side of his cloak.

"With that out of the way, please tell us your allegiance," Frederick said. Raven sighed quietly.

"I am devoted to this lovely woman that you see here before you!" Virion called, gesturing to Sully. She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.

"Alright… then…" Frederick said, slightly freaked out by this stranger's behavior. "I guess you can… come with us." Virion bowed to Chrom and stood beside Sully.

"I think we should probably head back to Ylisstol. The Exalt must be worried," Sully said. Chrom looked at her skeptically and she added, "She'll want to know what happened here and who your foreigners are." Chrom sighed.

"I guess you're right Sully." Chrom looked at Zaltia, Alex and Raven. "Whatever the Exalt decides, I want you three to know that I will always be thankful for your contributions. I will put in the best word I can, but I'm not making any promises." Zaltia looked at her brother. She was scared of what would happen to them. Something about the possibility of being imprisoned scared her.

What did she know? She had woken up with no memory except for the one of her brother. Zaltia had habits, fears that she couldn't explain but just seemed fitting. When they had gone to sleep a few hours earlier, she had part of a dream which she couldn't understand. A hooded man… Raven was being tortured…

"Let's move it!" Frederick said, snapping Zaltia out of her thoughts.

* * *

So summoning those monsters summoned battle magic. That wouldn't work. The girl was smart enough to find a way to kill them before they killed Chrom. It impressed him on a few levels that she could deal with that magic without studying it. The monsters also were too slow. There was no way Chrom would die because of them.

It was frustrating to see that what he had been given wouldn't work.

If she found out about his failure, she'd probably have his head. His job was simple; to kill Chrom before they met Plegia in battle. It was so simple… All he had to do was put a knife in his back and it would be done.

That couldn't happen though. If anyone saw a glimpse of his scars, his uniform, even his weapon, then they would know. They would know who he was and they could trace his payments from his employer. If Chrom found out that he… No. If he did this... The price would be substantial.

He couldn't think that way. He shook his head and pulled out a small dagger. He cut himself a little on his face and then applied a bandage. Another failure, another moment of weakness, another scar. Oh well. He would get him the next time, and then he wouldn't have to lose his life.

He stood up from his perch in a tree and jumped down. It had been about an hour since they had left. Once he was on the ground, he kicked the tree and waited for his bow to fall. He caught it with his eyes closed; part of his training. He began to walk in the direction of Ylisstol. He was prepared.

He was prepared to follow through.

* * *

**Hey guys! Thank you all for reading (several of you following and two or so of you favoriting)! So here's the deal: I'm looking for just one male MU oc. Just one! If you would like to submit one, please put the name, build, face, hair, hair color, asset, flaw and class in a PM! Thank you! Mudkip out!**


	5. Chapter 4: New Arrivals

**Chapter 4: New Arrivals**

The sun was rising, and its light was just touching the tips of the castle in Ylisstol. It really was a beautiful sunrise. The assassin guard of the castle, named Cyrus, was watching the main street into town from the precipices, waiting to see when Lord Chrom returned. Cyrus was medium height and had blond hair. His eyes were red from staying up all night waiting for Chrom.

And then there was a small flash of dark blue hair. Who else could it be but him? Cyrus climbed down from the castle walls to alert the Exalt. She would be pleased indeed.

* * *

"Chrom, how much further?" Lissa asked. "My feet are killing me!"

Chrom smiled a little. "Lissa, how many times do I have to tell you? We're almost there. The city is only a few minutes away."

"Ugh. But that's what you said an hour ago!"

"I'm telling the truth this time though. Look, you can see the gates from this hill!" Chrom stopped to let Lissa and the others catch up. When they got to the top of the hill, Lissa practically started crying in relief.

"Hooray! We're home! There's real food, beds, whatever you want!" she shouted as she ran down the hill.

"Frederick…" Chrom said.

"Of course milord. I will accompany her into the city." Frederick's horse whinnied and followed Lissa at a fast trot.

"Alright you four. I want you to know again that I'm going to try and vouch for your freedom. I don't know what else that'll include, but I want you to be safe," Chrom said after the knight had left. He addressed the three foreigners and Virion, for last night Fredrick ruled him 'untrustworthy.'

"For the trial, I'm not going to throw you in prison. Lissa and Sully will be taking you to the Shepherds' garrison, the place where we all stay," Chrom added. Raven and Zaltia looked at him in surprise, but Alex knew of the lord's generosity.

"Since when am I taking these guys to the garrison?" Sully asked.

"Since last night."

Sully rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll take 'em. Just tell Lissa to get back over here. I swear your sister has too much energy for a princess."

The five began walking down the rest of the path and into the city. From a distance, Zaltia could see people milling about the streets and waiting in line for shops. _This town is huge! How many people…_ her thoughts trailed off as they reached the entrance to the city.

"Whoa," Alex said. "I've heard all about Ylisstol, but never have I seen it up close. This is incredible!"

Several people on the streets began bowing to Chrom or clapping when he went by. "Gosh, I feel like we're in a parade or something," Zaltia whispered to her brother.

"That would be slightly better than this." Zaltia sighed in frustration. He was right.

"Chrom!" called out a voice as the group came close to the castle. In front of them, accompanied by Fredrick, Lissa, and a few guards was a woman older than Chrom. She had blond hair like Lissa and a mark on her forehead. It looked like a teardrop surrounded by a horseshoe.

_That looks so familiar! Where have I seen it…? Wait!_ Zaltia looked at the sheathed sword Chrom was carrying. _The handle! And… His shoulder!_ On Chrom's right shoulder was the mark in a slightly darker skin tone. _Is it some sort of tattoo?_

"Chrom I was so worried about all of you. Where did you run off to for several hours?" the woman asked.

"Several hours?" Chrom seemed puzzled.

"Milord, the assassin watcher form the castle says he saw you walking through town around dawn," Frederick said.

"Oh," was all Chrom could say. "I'll have to have a word with him I guess."

"In the meantime, Frederick, Chrom, you come with me. We'll discuss the matter of your company and last night's events," the woman said. She turned and walked away, followed immediately by Chrom and Frederick.

As soon as they were gone, Lissa turned towards the group. "Alright! Sully's got to grab a few things from town, so I'll show you guys the garrison!" she said enthusiastically.

"Lissa, are you sure you can control a group as large as four people?" Sully asked.

"I'm… Sure!"

Sully sighed. "Lissa, just give one of 'em to me. You can take the rest."

"Fine," Lissa conceded. "I pick… Virion!" Sully groaned. "What? You don't think that I can handle three? We'll see if you can handle him!"

"Have it your way. I'll meet ya guys there." Sully and Virion walked off and Sully left her horse tied up.

Lissa began walking west, beckoning for the others to follow. She walked down several streets that were lined with every kind of shop imaginable. There were alchemy shops, clothing stores, food markets, everything could be found in this town.

"And then, a man stopped the axe from hitting me with his sword! He just, came out of nowhere! It was really cool!" Lissa continued her experience from last night. Zaltia listened half heartedly, mostly keeping her attention on shops with dresses. On the contrary, Raven was looking in the direction of weapon shops, the ones that acted more like a black market and were hidden in corners.

"Where did he go after our battle? I never saw him," Alex said, listening to the princess's words intently.

"I don't know. But maybe we'll see him again sometime!" Lissa said. Zaltia couldn't help but feel suspicious about the man described.

"Lissa?" Raven asked.

"What is it?" the blond asked in return.

"What did that man look like?"

"Oh, he was a little taller than me and had dark blue hair."

"Did he also wear a mask?" Lissa spun around in surprise.

"How could you know that?!"

"He's standing right there," Raven said as he pointed past a shop and into an alleyway. Zaltia held in her gasp of terror. Something about the events wasn't adding up. The man came from the same place as the monsters, disappeared for a few hours and then shows up. _Something else is going on…_

"Hey!" Lissa called out. The man merely beckoned them with a gesture of his hand. The four walked over slowly, Alex's hand on his sword's sheath. All noise seemed to vanish when they entered the alley. Zaltia gulped.

"I uh- Want to thank you for saving me last night," Lissa said.

"No thanks is needed," the man said.

"Oh. Well, what's your name?"

"You may call me Marth."

"After the Hero-King?" Alex asked.

Marth nodded. "Yes, but I did not come to talk about me. I came to warn you all, but I did not get the chance last night."

"Warn us about what?" Zaltia asked. Marth tensed for half a second.

"The world is teetering on the brink of a horrible calamity. The experience you had last night was but a prelude," Marth said.

"A-a disaster?" Raven said in terror.

"What's teetering where now?" Lissa asked. Marth had already walked off into another street, mixed in the the commoners.

"Lissa… I think he said the world is going to end," Zaltia said.

"This is already one heck of a day," Alex muttered under his breath.

* * *

"And here we are! The Shepherd's garrison!" Lissa said, twirling for emphasis. From outside, the building looked quite normal. It was just an average brick building on the very outskirts of town with a high ceiling.

"Who else is part of the Shepherds?" Raven asked, genuinely curious.

"Well we've got several divisions. There are the Pegasus knights, who usually are out guarding our borders. In their division, we've got Sumia, Cordelia, Aria and Sia."

"What about magic users like me?" Raven asked again.

"The mage division? We have Ricken, Miriel, Hikaru, Serina and Bunko. They're really good too!" Lissa said in response.

"Cool. Where would I fit in?" Zaltia asked.

"That's not a question you need to answer Lissa," Raven said.

"Why not?"

"It's not like she's going to join the Shepherds, so why should you tell her?!"

"Why are _you_ getting all defensive about this Raven? I just wanted to know!" Zaltia asked.

"I just…" Raven saw movement at the edge of his vision. Even without looking directly looking, he could tell it was Sumia.

"You just… What?" Zaltia asked.

"I… Oh hey Sumia!" Raven said. The brunette walked over, carrying an envelope.

"Lady Lissa, this is for you," Sumia said as she handed Lissa the envelope. Her eyes met Raven's for a brief second before they both looked away.

Lissa opened the envelope and began reading. "YES! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! YES!" Lissa shouted at the top of her lungs. Like moths to a flame, people began coming from the garrison.

"Lissa?! What on earth are you shouting about?" a blond asked. She wore mostly pink and white.

"Maribelle! Everyone! You won't believe it!"

"Lissa, keep your voice down! Some of us were trying to read!" said a short boy with a very large hat.

"Sorry Ricken!" Lissa said.

"So, what's the news?" Sumia asked. A woman with dark purple hair nodded beside her.

"VIRION, ZALTIA, RAVEN AND ALEX ARE GOING TO BE SHEPHERDS!" Lissa shouted.

"I don't think Valm heard you; you may want to yell again," Alex said. Lissa glared at him.

"I assume they're the three standing behind you. Where did they come from?" asked a man with greenish-brown hair.

"Stahl, Raven and Zaltia came from Plegia and Alex comes from Regna Ferox," Lissa said.

"Plegia?" asked the blond from before, presumably Maribelle.

"I know it sounds suspicious, but trust me, I've seen those two fight for Chrom. They won't be hurting you anytime soon," Alex said. Zaltia nodded in agreement. The Shepherds consented and began to disperse among themselves and talk.

"Well aren't you a nice one?" Maribelle said to Alex. Lissa looked at her in shock.

"Maribelle, I told you to stop this!" Lissa said.

"It is my duty to help find you a suitor Lissa! You can't expect your brother and sister to live forever!" Lissa sighed.

"S-suitor?" Alex asked.

"Why yes. And I think you'll do nicely. Much better than that oaf Vaike," Maribelle said.

Alex began laughing. "Is that a joke?!"

"No."

Alex stopped laughing and stared hard at Maribelle's face. "You're not kidding are you?"

"They must have a screwed up sense of humor in Regna Ferox if you thought I was kidding," Maribelle said. Lissa just sighed.

* * *

Raven quickly found himself in the company of Sumia and the purple headed woman that had been standing next to her. "Serina, I'd like you to meet Raven," Sumia said. The woman nodded her head in greeting.

"Hello Raven. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said. Serina had long hair in two long pigtails that hung over her shoulders.

"Pleasure to meet you too," Raven replied.

"Sumia told me all about you. Honestly, it was a shock for her to talk about someone else besides Chrom," Serina said. "And refreshing too!"

Sumia laughed a little. "Well, I try not to bore you. So how have you been Raven?"

"Fine."

"It's good to see you made it back alive," Sumia said.

"Same goes for you," Raven replied. Sumia smiled at him and he began to feel hot and uncomfortable.

"Hmmm…" said a voice behind Raven.

"Anna? What are you doing?" Serina asked while rolling her eyes. Raven turned to see a red-headed woman wearing a red and yellow outfit.

"Oh, I'm just seeing how much extra these three will cost. We're already short on funds…" Anna said.

"Who ar-"

"Oh! I'm Anna, the person officially in charge of funds for the Shepherds. You know, if we tried hard enough, then we could get you your very own fan club! That would make tons of money!" Anna said.

_Is she mental? _Raven wondered. "Anna! Chrom talked to you about this! You _cannot _exploit _any_ of us for investment purposes!" Sumia said.

Anna waved her hand casually, as if to dismiss the problem. "Whatever," she said. Suddenly, another purple headed person jumped up behind Anna and grabbed her shoulders.

"Hey Anna!" he said happily. His hair was a little lighter than Serina's, but their eyes were almost the exact same.

"Hikaru! Stop bugging Anna for one minute!" Serina said.

"Geez, I was only trying to be friendly with my girlfriend!" Hikaru said to Serina. "So Anna, I just finished counting the gold and equipment we have. What should I do now?" he asked.

"Here, let me help you. Let's go to the storage shed," Anna replied. The two began walking towards the back of the garrison.

"Sometimes I think she's just dating him so he can do things for her," Serina sighed.

"Are you two brother and sister?" Raven asked. Serina nodded.

"RAVEN!" He heard Zaltia's voice calling for him.

"Um… Sorry, but I have to go. I'll see you guys later, okay?" Raven started walking in the direction which the call had first sounded.

"So…?" Serina asked when Raven was gone.

"What?" Sumia asked her friend.

"Is he…?"

"You can't spring something like that on me!"

"But you do, right?"

Sumia smiled. "I guess so, well, sort of. We'll just wait and see then."

* * *

"What is it?" Raven asked. He had found his sister looking at some weapons that had been recently bought by the Shepherds.

"Lissa was just showing this sword to me. Isn't it cool?" Zaltia said as she held up said sword.

"Whoa," was all Raven could say. The sword was finely made by some substance; probably silver. Its grip and pommel were painted black and inscribed on the cross-guard was one word in an electric blue: _Transcendence. _

"I see you've found our weapon supply," said a voice behind them. Raven could tell already that it was Chrom.

"Chrom!" Zaltia said as she turned around. She shoved the sword back in the bucket which Raven assumed it came from.

"Oh it's fine if you take it! You're part of us now, so our weapons are your weapons. Plus you're our tactician, so weapon choice is up to you," Chrom said.

"I can really keep it?" Chrom nodded. "Where did you get this?"

"The merchant who sold it to us said she found it near Plegia's borders. She said it may a little strange to the sword hand because she fixed up the handle."

"Anything else she said?"

"She said that it had a certain power that she couldn't figure out yet," Chrom said.

"Are you sure I can keep it?" Zaltia asked again for clarification.

"Yes, I'm sure. There's not any problem that I can see with you having it," Chrom said.

"Oh thank you Chrom! I'm going to work really hard for you guys to pay this off!" Zaltia said happily.

"Wait, I never said anything about having to pay it off!" Chrom said.

"Oh, well nothing is ever free and I can't imagine how much this sword cost you! It only seems fair." Chrom smiled.

"Chrom?" Raven asked, hoping that he wasn't interrupting. "Why did you let us join the Shepherds? We don't even know you!"

Chrom sighed. "It's complicated. It just seems that you three naturally fit in with everyone. It's kind of refreshing to see some new faces around here too." Raven scowled. Whatever Chrom's reasoning was, he wasn't going to tell them any time soon.

"Captain! What's new?" asked a man with blond hair being held up by a headband.

"Well Vaike, I was going to tell everyone later, but I might as well tell you now," Chrom said. Several of the Shepherds gathered around Chrom. Raven recognized some of them, including Maribelle, Serina, Sumia, Anna and Hikaru. He also saw Sully and Virion. He faintly wondered when they had arrived.

"What is it?" "Are we going somewhere?" Different whispers among the Shepherds could be heard.

"Shepherds! Tomorrow we march to Regna Ferox to request more soldiers due to Plegia's attacks." Among hearing this, several of the Shepherds began booing and swearing.

"Who's going?" Lissa asked.

"After some deliberation, I've decided that we'll take thirteen and meet up with Sia at the border. Alex!" Alex looked up at Chrom in surprise.

"If your allegiance is still to Regna Ferox, then we will return you there. In the meantime, you'll accompany us."

"And who is "us?"" Alex asked.

"You, Lissa, Sully, Virion, Zaltia, Raven, Frederick, Miriel, Vaike, Stahl, Sumia, Serina and myself. I wager we'll pick up a few others on the way, but for now, it's the thirteen of us." Chrom turned to the small boy, whom Raven remembered as Ricken. "I leave Ricken in charge while I am away. If I hear _anything_ about you not listening to him, you'll be stuck in the stables for weeks!" The Shepherds all nodded solemnly, except for Ricken who had a large smile on his face.

Raven sighed softly. _Why are we going? We just joined today!_ He wouldn't ask though, Chrom would just give him an easy answer like before.

"Also, I may not have mentioned it before, but Zaltia is going to be our new tactician! So everyone will listen to her during training and such," Chrom said. Some looked at the light bluenette in curiosity and others merely nodded. Raven could tell his sister was embarrassed by the attention.

"What can we do to prepare?" asked a woman with short red hair, glasses and a large hat.

"Sleep. It is all I ask of those leaving," Chrom said. The Shepherds nodded and left to talk and/or train.

* * *

_Zaltia gulped in terror. _

"_You'll not hurt him!" she said as she stood up from her hiding place. A smile was visible under the stranger's hood._

"_Oh Zaltia, I almost forgot you were here! It's good to see you again," the figure said. _

"_You won't touch my brother, you won't hurt me, and you'll just go crawling back to him and stay there!" Zaltia said fiercely. _

"_Him? Oh why, you must be so afraid if you can't even speak his name. I heard that the two of you were imprisoned very recently, yes?" Zaltia lowered her head and began trembling. Horrible memories filled her thoughts at the very sound of this man's words._

"_So what? It means nothing to you!"_

"_You're so naïve. I only wanted to know if it was true, because if it was, then it means you've been getting weaker," the hooded man said. _

"_I don't know what you want, but I assure you, it won't happen. Whatever you want with my brother…"_

"_Who said anything about your brother? Of course we both know he's the stronger one period, but you… You have power that just needs to be unlocked."_

"_Raven is stronger than you ever will be!"_

"_Really? You dare say that Raven is stronger than me? How about we put that to the test?"_

"_NO! I said you won't hurt him!" Zaltia cried as she drew Transcendence from its sheath at her side._

* * *

Zaltia sat upright in her bed, gasping for air. She had taken her hair out of its ponytail before bed and now found it tangled. Zaltia looked around and remembered that she was in the Shepherds' garrison.

The moon outside was shining, but there were no windows in the brick building. Zaltia felt like she had a set of eyes on her, but she quickly forgot the feeling when she realized no one else was in the room.

_That was a crazy dream. And who was that man? His voice sounded so familiar…_ Zaltia shook her head. It was just a dream. It was completely normal to have dreams that included people and events from the past. Maybe that man was from a memory she had.

Zaltia lied down again. Her eyes were heavy and she felt restless, yet in seconds Zaltia found sleep.

And the next morning, she forgot all about the dream.

* * *

**And there we have it! Chapter 4! I meant to have it up earlier, but there were many complications. I personally wish to thank the people who submitted OCs for me. I ended rewriting this chapter because I tried to include every Shepherd in it. Now, some of the OCs had cameos instead of an introduction. See all my readers next time!**


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